Haddad A, Bienvenu J, Miossec P
Department of Immunology, Hôpital Edouard Herriot, France.
J Clin Immunol. 1998 Nov;18(6):399-403. doi: 10.1023/a:1023278606036.
T cells produce regulatory cytokines which control inflammation. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a Th1 cytokine profile has been described in the synovium. In order to assess the Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in blood, a one step culture-immunoassay procedure was used to measure the ex vivo production of IFN gamma and IL-4 by whole blood cells from 26 RA patients and 25 controls. For comparison, the same cytokines were measured by ELISA in supernatants of activated whole blood cells. The direct whole blood assay was 10-fold more sensitive than standard ELISA to measure IL-4 levels. IL-4 production was higher in RA patients than in controls, whereas that of IFN gamma was lower. Accordingly, the IL-4/IFN gamma ratio, which reflects the Th2/Th1 cytokine balance in blood, was higher in RA patients (P < 0.0001). The present findings indicate a Th2-over-Th1 cytokine balance profile in RA blood. These results are in contrast with the Th1-over-Th2 pattern previously found in the joint, indicating that the two compartments appear to be differently regulated.
T细胞产生控制炎症的调节性细胞因子。在类风湿性关节炎（RA）中，滑膜中已发现Th1细胞因子谱。为了评估血液中的Th1/Th2细胞因子平衡，采用一步培养免疫测定法来测量26例RA患者和25例对照者全血细胞体外产生的IFNγ和IL-4。作为比较，通过ELISA法测定活化全血细胞上清液中的相同细胞因子。直接全血检测法在测量IL-4水平方面比标准ELISA法灵敏10倍。RA患者的IL-4产生高于对照者，而IFNγ的产生则较低。因此，反映血液中Th2/Th1细胞因子平衡的IL-4/IFNγ比值在RA患者中更高（P<0.0001）。目前的研究结果表明RA血液中存在Th2超过Th1的细胞因子平衡谱。这些结果与先前在关节中发现的Th1超过Th2模式相反，表明这两个区域的调节方式似乎不同。
